


Lucky Break

by PatchworkIdeas



Series: WinterFRE 2020 [19]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Family Issues, Gen, Homelessness, Hopeful Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-25
Updated: 2020-02-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:07:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22893004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PatchworkIdeas/pseuds/PatchworkIdeas
Summary: Fili finds a stranger in his car.
Relationships: Fíli/Kíli (Tolkien)
Series: WinterFRE 2020 [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1604650
Comments: 9
Kudos: 33
Collections: GatheringFiKi - Winter FRE 2020





	Lucky Break

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Prompt Nr.26:  
> Person A gets off work late at night to find a stranger (Person B) sleeping in his car (something fancy, Range Rover, Bentley, Porsche SUV, etc.) because it was below 0F and he had nowhere to go.

1am.  
Fili knows he can't keep pulling all-nighters like this, but his darn assistant has quit _again_ , courtesy of a hefty check from his dear unhappy uncle no doubt, and his client can't wait. Shouldn't have to, really.

It had been hard enough pulling his law firm out of the ground with his family shaking their heads at him, belittling him or saying it would be "good practice at least" for what he would end up doing.  
But when he finally had it running well, his uncle decided that he was “ready” to take his place in the giant family company - which was as amoral as it was rich.  
Keeping his own alive has become all but impossible since.  
While he makes enough to live quite comfortably, his is not a job that can be done on his own. Thorin had been _furious_ when Fili refused to sell his own practice and come back to work under him - and has been doing all he can to make Fili’s life miserable since. 

Including bribing away his workers.

Fili sends out the finished work - barely in time, but not yet late - eyes burning, his head constantly dropping and wrists and fingers aching from all the typing - but he _does_ make it.  
He has been smart enough not to take on two cases at the same time for a while now, due to this same. Repeating. Problem. 

But at least now he can sleep.

He half-heartedly considers just laying down in his car - a Suburban, with comfortable leather seats and a big enough rear bench to comfortably sleep on - as the road home is not an inviting thought in his current state.  
It wouldn't be the first time, if only because he occasionally pulls over midway when he finds his eyelids dangerously dropping. He bought this particular car for exactly this reason.  
Of course, saner minds would have simply used the guest bed in his office - it’s there for a reason after all.  
Saner minds don't have to spend days on end in that darn building. 

Now that he finally _can_ leave, he feels like he will scream if he spends another minute in it.  
He needs the break and he hates himself for needing it, for how Thorin is breaking him down bit by bit, as hard as he fights to remain independent.  
How long can he still do this? 

Worry about his future once more eats at him, mingling with the overwhelming desire to just finally be _home_ and left alone and-

It takes him a moment to realize that the car had been unlocked.  
The heater is already on and is warming him up rapidly from his short trip to his car.  
He can hear breathing. Coming from behind him. 

_Fuck._  
_Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck._

He hasn't checked the car. Thorin hadn't stooped to actually breaking the law yet, (at least not in a way Fili could prove,) though the vague threats have been getting more and more insistent lately. What’s it going to be, intimidation only, reminding him they can get at him whenever they want? Or something more? A reminder of where he supposedly belongs, as much as he doesn't want to? 

(He saw, he saw what happened to that rival that didn't back down. He saw. He wasn't supposed to and his uncle doesn't know he did but he saw and he doesn't think it will happen to him but what if it does?) 

Trying to keep his breath steady, hands locked tight against the wheel, fingers aching but lost under the heartbeat in his ears, the feeling of too little air, the distant awareness of just how empty these streets are, the blood pounding, heartbeat going too fast, staccato beat after staccato beat, fear waking him and paralyzing him at the same time. Waiting, just waiting, for the first move, for what it would be. 

Nothing happens. 

The breath remains.

But nothing moves, nothing sounds. 

Nothing happens. 

Desperately trying to get his breath under control, stopping himself from looking in the rear view mirror, because he knows all too well what happens to people who saw what they shouldn't and he doesn't want to know, doesn't want to be here, but he is and-

Breathe. 

"Who are you?" he croaks out, surprised and proud by how steady and cold his voice is despite him feeling anything but. "What the fuck are you doing in my car?" 

Rustling, a whimper. Then:  
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I didn't know where else to go. You left the car open and I swear I didn't take anything but it's freezing and I lost my place and I have nowhere to go. _Please_ don't put me back out there."  
The obvious fear in the voice calms his own and he risks a look - and can't see much with the stranger curled tight under the warm blanket he kept for his own nightly emergencies. 

A bum. Just a bum. 

Young, maybe his own age, if his voice is anything to go by. 

Obviously terrified. 

Fili hasn't paid much attention to the weather the last couple of days, but vaguely remembers radio reports of unprecedented cold fronts and warnings of permafrost and accidents and people found frozen through. 

Fuck.

He rests his head on the steering wheel, the fight draining out of him and taking the last dredges of his energy with it. 

He can't drive like this.  
He has a stranger in his car who will die if he throws him out.  
He is _tired_ and he wants to go _home_ and _sleep_ and not waking back up sounds pretty darn amazing right now.  
He laughs at his own melodramatic thoughts, falls back into the seat, and makes his decision.

"Fuck it. You know how to drive, kid?" 

There is a long silence, only broken by his own almost hysterical chuckles occasionally breaking out without his permission. He needs a _break_.

Eventually, there is more rustling and a brunette head emerges, gingerly sitting up behind him. Fili can see the edge of his T-shirt peeking out under the blanket. Who the fuck wears a T-shirt in the middle of winter? 

"I can." Scared brown eyes met his in the rear view mirror, before the kid nervously bites his lip and adds: "Are you okay? You... " and obviously bites his tongue, aware of how precarious his own situation is. 

"I look like shit. Its true and you can say it." Another chuckle.  
"So, fuck it. I need to get home. You obviously need _a_ home. And I'm in no condition to drive. So what do you say? You seem sober and clean" (surprisingly in both senses actually - he mumbles in between, before realizing that’s probably not something polite company should actually say) "and I'm in desperate need of a driver.  
You promise not to rob me and you get a couch and breakfast out of it while you’re at it. What do you say?" 

The stranger looks at him in uncertainty. Fili thinks it’s a darn good offer until he realizes that he is still sitting in the driver seat and the kid probably thinks he is trying to convince him to step out peacefully.  
He sighs, before clumsily lifting himself out of his seat and trying to make it into the passenger one without breaking anything in the process.  
He is too tired for this. For any of it. He hopes the kid will make up his mind soon or they will both end up sleeping in the car. 

"What's your name anyway? Or age, for that matter. You look pretty young," he mumbles after he finally sinks into the comfortable seat, eyes closed more out of necessity than choice. 

"Kili. My name's Kili, and I'm 23." More rustling and slitted eyes confirm that Kili is doing a much better job at navigating the spaces in between the seats.  
Kili is also wearing nothing but a T-shirt, jeans and sneakers. Nothing at all like he would have imagined a bum wearing - never mind one in winter.  
He must have mumbled out loud again, because Kili answers, fiddling with the GPS to find out where "home" is and adjusting the settings for himself like it is the most natural thing in the world. 

"Wasn't one this morning. My dad found out I'm... My dad threw me out. Didn't even allow me to pack my stuff. I used to work for the family business, keeping those stupid books, and we lived above so it made sense not to...  
I don't have anything anymore. I guess he thought, with the temperatures, that I wouldn't need anything long anyway."  
Fili is just awake enough to catch the way Kili's voice breaks, but can't bring himself to open his eyes to check if he’s right about the tears.

"Families are _shit._ " He says instead, comforted by the familiar rumble and the unexpectedly smooth ride. The stranger - who quickly became less strange every second - laughs. 

"Family problems, too?" And maybe Fili imagined the hint of disbelieve there, too used to people telling him how _lucky_ he is and that he should stop throwing away what others would kill to have.

So he just says dryly: "I thought you were a hit man sent by mine."  
And it sounds dramatic like that, too dramatic, and he's tired and he aches and its not like he ever had anyone else he could unload on.

"My uncle keeps stealing my workers, trying to drive me out of business to make me a lackey in his. My office has been broken in three times already, to make a point, even if nobody can connect it to him. Police are in his bloody pocket and everyone acts like I should be happy to be a fucking dog on a shiny leash for my family. So yeah, families are shit."

There's silence for a bit and Fili desperately hopes the gaze he feels is nothing but his sleep deprived imagination because the kid better keep his eyes on the road. 

"Yeah." Kili says eventually, before laughing, self depreciately perhaps, but laughing all the same. It's infective and Fili can't help join in. 

"I'm Fili by the way. Should have probably led with that." Another laugh and Fili doesn't know what they are both laughing about anymore but it feels lighter none the less. 

A part of him is oddly disappointed when they park in front of his place, a cozy little house on the edge of town. His uncle had pulled strings to make him an unwelcome tenant anywhere until he comes to heel but there are always people who don't care where money comes from as long as it’s up front.  
Easier to equip with adequate security anyway. 

He drags himself out, using the keys Kili hands him to open his front door and let them both in.  
Heading straight for the kitchen, Fili pulls out an instant meal and pops it in the microwave, while Kili stands forlorn and lost among his furniture. 

Fili pulls out the whiskey and pours two glasses, waving Kili to the sofa after his guest finally gets the message and downs his drink. The sputtering proves Kili is definitely not used to hard liquor.  
Probably for the best.  
The burn of his own shot wakes him for just a bit longer, the gentle warmth that follows making him content and comfortable while he shares the mac and cheese right out of the box. 

There is more laughter and somehow Kili ends up in his bed, wearing an almost too small pajama. Kili cuddles up close. Fili doesn't know if it's the alcohol, the sleep deprivation, the stress or just having company that doesn't feel like it will stab him in the back the moment they find an opening - but he feels _safe_ and right and he falls asleep before he can ruminate on it further. 

-

The smell of eggs and bacon wakes him and he finds his unexpected guest in his kitchen making breakfast for two. 

Kili looks a bit sheepish, probably unsure where he stands, but Fili feels strangely comfortable with him in his house. Could get used to seeing that smile, (and those eyes,) in the morning. 

What a strange night it had been. 

"You are a lifesaver, you know," Fili chuckles, just to break the ice. And Kili’s smile gets warmer, softer, and the way Kili looks at him in that moment, happy and earnest and like he hung the moon makes Fili's heart flutter oddly. 

"Just returning the favor." It’s both a joke and truth at once. 

Fili likes him. 

The breakfast is fantastic, as simple as it is, and the company is even better. Kili is witty and fun, with a razor sharp mind and a laugh that does something to Fili’s insides. The fact that he laughs so easily, despite everything, just makes him even more extraordinary.  
Who ever Kili’s family is, they are fucking idiots. 

But it does beg the question - what now?

Kili seems happy, but the worry and fear still peeks through during the morning, like he waits with bated breath to be send away. There's a desperation there that Fili wouldn't have caught if his own freedom and survival didn't depend on reading people.  
Kili has a good poker face, for supposedly living a sheltered life with his family.  
Fili has no doubt there is more to discover, more to find out about his fascinating guest, and while he finds himself curious he knows now is not the time. 

What Kili needs, first and foremost, is some security.  
What Fili needs, first and foremost, is help.  
Maybe the two can be connected.  
If not, he will figure out how to help his new friend get his feet under him otherwise. 

"OK. First off, I'm not going to throw you out, so stop worrying." Kili almost drops the pencil he has been fiddling with - perhaps unconsciously.  
"That said, I could use some help. My uncle keeps stealing my workers and I would like to keep my own freedom. I will work you in and I will pay you well. We can decide along the way where we go from there. Does that work for you?" 

Kili looks at him, eyes big and wide and then he's suddenly hugging Fili (warm and strong and not at all unpleasant despite how unexpected it is) before stumbling back with a yelp, obviously realizing that that would make Fili his _Boss_ and hugging him was probably not appropriate.

There is panic on Kili’s face for a moment.  
Fili finds he extremely dislikes seeing it and wants the smile back. So he pulls him in, rough, for just a second, before stepping back and laughing.  
"Not like any of this is the norm anyway. I would rather have a friend I can trust by my side than a bought employee any day." 

Their talk is notably more relaxed after that, and Fili realizes just how good Kili's poker face is only after it isn't there at all anymore. Useful, especially with his own family. 

They spent the day talking about what Kili can expect, both in daily life with him and with work, options they have for getting his stuff out of his former home, and warnings about the inevitable visits of Fili’s own shitty family. 

Fili hopes Kili will hold true, when the time comes, though he can think of worse people to get a six digit check to walk out of his life.  
Either way, he's glad to have met him.  
And maybe, just maybe, there's some hope for both of them yet.


End file.
